Russian stocks mixed on low oil, strong ruble, better background

MOSCOW, Jun 1 (PRIME) -- Russian stocks closed mixed on Friday after growing the entire day amid an improved foreign background, the ruble’s strengthening, and falling oil prices, analysts said.  

The MOEX Russia Index fell 0.33% to 2,295.34 and the RTS increased 0.12% to 1,164.37.

The U.S. stock floors opened with growth, and optimistic moods were seen on European exchanges, Veles Broker analyst Yelena Kozhukhova said. The ruble was growing against the dollar and euro amid investors’ increased risk appetite, she said.

Vitaly Manzhos, a senior risk manager at investment company Nord Capital, pointed to uneven movement of the two Russian indices against the levels of previous close. “The dollar-denominated RTS index has again significantly moved under the influence of the intraday strengthening of the national currency rate. At the same time, the ruble-denominated MOEX Russia Index continues its lingering unprincipled consolidation around the nearest important level of 2,300 points,” he said.

“It seems that a quiet “summer” mood prevailed on the Russian stock market ahead of schedule. This is also facilitated by the muffled dynamics of Brent oil futures, which today settled in the middle of their monthly ranges,” the analyst said.

Shares of VTB Bank dropped 4.99% on a dividend gap, Manzhos said.

Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) lost 2.61% after the shareholders approved paying 0.806 rubles per share in dividends for 2017.

Oil pipeline monopoly Transneft’s preferred shares added 0.82% after the board of directors recommended paying 7,578 rubles per common or preferred share, or a total of 54.937 billion rubles, in final dividends for 2017.

Below are the MOEX Russia Index’s five most active stocks on Friday:

Company	Change, %	Last price, rbl	Trading volume, bln rbl
Sberbank	-1.06	220.00	7.848
VTB	-4.99	0.0474	3.766
Lukoil	-0.08	4205.50	3.176
Gazprom	-0.69	144.00	2.538
Norilsk Nickel	+0.35	11150.00	1.865

(62.0188 rubles – U.S. $1)

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